Heartbroken family of mum who walked into path of train reveal how she was 'refused' place at mother and baby unit

TROUBLED: Polly Ross, inset, left Westlands inpatient unit, west Hull, and made her way to the railway line

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The family of a single mum who walked into the path of a train have called for better treatment and understanding of postnatal depression patients.

Polly Ross, 32, was diagnosed with postnatal depression in October 2012 following the birth of her first child. The condition returned following the arrival of her second child in 2014.

Polly's family believe she may have had postpartum psychosis - a rare and serious mental illness - after her second baby was born.

Polly Ross died after walking into the path of a train

Polly died instantly on July 12, 2015, when she was hit by the Hull to Scarborough train near Spring Bank West after telling staff at Westlands, in Anlaby Road, west Hull, where she was a voluntary inpatient, she was going out to buy cigarettes.

Giving her first interview, Polly's mother Joanna Hogg described her daughter, a university graduate who excelled in languages, as "an irrepressible free spirit."

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Ms Hogg, 57, of Driffield, believes improvements are needed to postnatal care, if future tragedies are to be prevented.

"As a family, we are still not convinced that if another Polly Ross presented tomorrow, she would receive better care," she said.

"Male mental health is getting a lot of press now. Some serious money now needs to be spent on postnatal services. People think you should be feeling great after you've had a baby. That isn't always the case.

"Suicide post giving birth is the second biggest killer of women after heart disease."

STRUGGLE: Polly's second pregnancy was blighted by HG, a condition that caused her to vomit up to 30 times a day

Polly was sectioned in February 2015 following a breakdown and was first admitted to Avondale, the psychiatric intensive care and assessment unit based at Miranda House in Gladstone Street, west Hull, before being transferred to Westlands.

She was not sectioned at the time of her death - which Ms Hogg believes she should have been.

Ms Hogg, who until recently was employed by Humber NHS Foundation Trust as an occupational therapist, feels her daughter was "badly let down".

"At no point did Polly get seen by an expert in perinatal (postnatal) care," she said. "She was seen by general psychiatrists. We believe Polly should have been sectioned."

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"We feel a lot of staff didn't take Polly to be as ill as she was," she said. "You have to compare the person to how they were before, and to do that you need to involve families. To us, there was a marked difference in Polly."

A spokesman for the Trust said: "The Trust’s thoughts remain with Polly’s family at this time.

"We have undertaken a serious incident investigation into the circumstances surrounding Polly’s death.

"We ensured Polly’s family was involved in the investigation and sent them the findings following its completion.

"The recommendations from the investigation have been implemented by the Trust and we’ve kept Polly’s family updated with developments as they’ve progressed."

Anyone needing support to cope with postnatal depression can contact the Association for Post Natal Illnesses. Click here for more information or call 0207 3860868.